Where Nurses Get Paid the Most

The 15 cities that make most financial sense

by Matt Wynn Staff Writer, MedPage Today

March 02, 2018

Nurses are in demand, and the hiring site Indeed.com has the facts to prove it. The terms "registered nurse," "RN," and "LPN" were among the top searches in 2017, according to a report the site released.

Chances are that trend isn't going anywhere soon. And again, population means there's increasing demand for nursing skills. It also means more nurses are leaving the ranks to pursue a retirement of their own.

Nurses are one of the highest-paid fields that don't require a college degree. In fact, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest average annual salary is in California, at over $100,000. Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Oregon all follow on the list of states with the highest nursing salaries.

When you factor in the cost of living, though, you get a slightly different picture of where nurses can make the most out of their paycheck. Here are the top 15 cities for nurse pay, adjusted for the costs associated with living there:

There are some notable changes from last year's list. Maybe most impressive is Atlanta's jump from 15th place to third. Houston also remains high, with two hospitals that employees rank as some of the best in the country.

Phoenix, which had ranked second on last year's list, barely made this year's cut.

The site also looked at the places where job postings most outpace clicks from prospective employees. In some places, they found, hiring is harder than others, and pay alone isn't always enough to even out the disparity.

Seattle, for instance, had the seventh-highest salary after adjusting for the cost of living. But it still had the most out-of-whack ratio between job postings and clicks, with postings outpacing clicks on a more than 3:1 basis. Other cities that were most desperate for qualified applicants: Kansas City; Riverside, Calif.; St. Louis; San Diego; and Atlanta.

"Clearly, while salaries are important when it comes to attracting talent, they is no magic bullet for closing the talent gap," the company wrote.